Annex 10
Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, 2010
Norway’s National Action Plan for the Implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 was launched in 2006. Implementation of the Action Plan is coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Responsible Ministriesare implementing a number of measures at both national and international levels. The followingprovides an account of a selection of measures and results with regard to participation/representation, gender perspectives and protection.
The Action Plan is designed to strengthen the Norwegian efforts for increasing women’s participation and including a gender perspective in civilian and military peace operations, in peace processes and in peace building; and includes both national and international measures.
One issue in relation to 1325 is gender balancing. In 2010, the proportion of women serving in the armed forces is low, but is slowly increasing. In 2005, 7% of military employees were women, while this has increased to 8.6% in 2010. Norway has two female generals, but few women hold international posts. Research is in progress to help improve recruitment of women in the military. In order to increase the number of women considerably, political and military leaders must maintain new targets constantly. One possible measure being debated is to expand national conscription to include women. In preparation, from 2010, women are called in for preliminary mustering in the same way as men. In 2009, the Norwegian Police University Collegewas close to achieving the goal of 40% women of newly admitted students. In 2008, women comprised 40% of the number of Police Service employees. Following targeted measures, the number of Norwegian female applicants to international police operations increased from 5 applicants in 2009 to 22 applicants in 2010. The Norwegian Rule of Law Pool , an international standby group that provides advice and assistance for building of institutions and organisations throughout the chain of justice in previous theatres of war, currently consists of 87 members, including judges, public prosecutors, police lawyers, defence lawyers and personnel with a professional background in the correctional service. Since its establishment in 2004, the proportion of women in the Norwegian Rule of Law Pool, including contracted personnel, has increased from 26% to 33%.
Norway has frequently requested the UN to increase its recruiting of women at all levels of peace processes, and has exerted political pressure to ensure that follow-up of Resolution 1325 is given priority at the highest level of the various UN bodies. Each year, NOK 30 million isearmarked for measures to strengthen women’s participation in peace negotiations and to promote a gender perspective in such negotiations. In peace processes where Norway has played a role, an explicit objective has been to promote women’s participation in peace negotiations, but women’s representation continues to be low. Norway has provided financial support to local women’s groups that work to promote peace at the grassroots level in West Africa, in the Great Lakes region, on the Horn of Africa, in Colombia and in Sri Lanka, where Norway has supported the Association of War Affected Women for several years. The organisation promotes empowerment of women in all 25 districts of Sri Lanka in consistency with UN Resolution 1325. Furthermore, Norway has been actively involved in promoting women’s participation in the peace process in Nepal. The Norwegian Embassy functioned as a venue for Nepalese female activists during the negotiations. Norway has supported work on promoting women’s participation in peace building, in political parties and in parliaments. In Sierra Leone, up to 2007, Norway supported the UNDP programme for popular participation by women and youth in local government and development committees at village level. These constituted a major element of the peace building in the country. Norway has provided support for registration of voters in Liberia and the Ivory Coast, specifically earmarked for promoting registration of female voters.
Another important issue of 1325 is gender mainstreaming. The Action Plan contains measures for promoting integration of a gender perspective and strengthening civilian and military training programmes. The Norwegian Defence Establishment has initiated an upgrading of education in the areas of gender and Resolution 1325. Priority has been given to mission-specific training. The NorwegianNationalDefenceCollege is in the process of building up a body of expertise on gender in operations and is also considering participating ina joint Nordic centre for gender in military operation under Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO). Since spring 2009, the Norwegian Defence Establishment has produced and deployed a gender field advisor in the Norwegian PRT in Afghanistan as a normal, military staff function. A Norwegian military gender advisor is deployed at ISAF’s headquarters in Kabul. The Norwegian Defence Establishment has implemented a directive for conduct in international service.Norway has played a proactive role in efforts to establish the military gender guidelines in NATO. Police personnel who are to participate in international operations are trained in operation-specific challenges associated with gender and conflict, and are given training on Resolution 1325. The basic training course for international operations at the Norwegian Police University Collegeincludes human rights, international humanitarian law, including 1325-related international rules, and the UN Code of Conduct for Personal Behaviour. This is also part of the operation-specific education. The Norwegian police operate a NORAF women’s project in Afghanistan. The women’s project is aimed at strengthening women’s representation and competence in the Afghan police force.
The Norwegian UNMIL police contingent in Liberia consists of four women and five men (July 2010), of which several work with gender-related matters. The Norwegian-funded capacity-building programme Training for Peace has for several years supported training of African civilians and police for peace operations in Africa. Strengthening of women’s participation in peacekeeping operations has had a central place in this work. Approximately 1000 African police have been trained for action in the UN and AU joint operation in Darfur (UNAMID), of which approximately 25% are women police. In the training of police for the AU operation in Somalia, the proportion of women is currently smaller, but the part of the course literature relating to gender perspectives and associated issues concerning human rights has been doubled. Since 2006, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has explicitly required that, when allocating funds for humanitarian purposes, the organisations must incorporate a gender perspective in their activities, report specifically on this area and assess the relevance of the project for Security Council Resolution 1325. These requirements have constituted a major force for incorporating the gender perspective in the organisations’ work. In order to contribute to policy development and increased competence and insight regarding women, peace and security, Norway has supported a number of research projects. In 2009, as a follow-up of Security Council Resolution 1889, Norway supported an international conference in Oslo to contribute to development of indicators and monitoring mechanisms.
Measures to protect against sexualviolence in conflict and to combat impunity have been strengthened in recent years. The Norwegian Defence Establishment has been tasked to develop guidelines for the protection by military personnel of civilians against sexualised violence in war and conflict. For many years Norway has played a proactive role in relation to the UN in order to ensure a strong gender perspective in mandates for peacekeeping operations and in all funds and programmes that receive Norwegian support. Norway was an active supporter of the adoption of Security Council Resolutions 1820 and 1888 in 2008 and 2009. During the period 2007–2009, Norway earmarked NOK 320 million in humanitarian aid for measures to promote women’s rights and gender equality and to combat sexualised violence. For two years, Norway has financed a senior gender advisor for MONUC in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The support is channelled through the UN Action Against Sexual Violence in Conflict, and also contributed to the funding of the Comprehensive Strategy on Combating Sexual Violence in the DRC. In the Great Lakes region, Norway supports measures in medical and psychological assistance and economic rehabilitation of victims of sexualised violence. Support is also provided to preventive work in both civilian and military structures, and efforts are being made to hold the perpetrators responsible. In Liberia, Norway supported from 2006 the establishment of ‘Women and Children Protection Units’ at county police stations, both in rural areas and in Monrovia. In addition, Norwegian police helped to train Liberian colleagues. This work is ongoing and will continue during the period 2010–2011. In the last two years, Norway has supported the International Criminal Court’s fund for victims of sexualised violence.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has established a separate project for Women, Peace and Security in order to strengthen the implementation of UN Security Council Resolutions 1325, 1820, 1888 and 1889 and to improve coordination between the responsible Ministries. In the Norwegian efforts, developing secure operational indicators for women’s participation and measuring concrete results of the efforts has generally constituted a challenge.